Gambhir: These experiments of Surya should not become overwhelming.Image Credit source: PTI
Ever since Gautam Gambhir became the head coach of Team India, Team India has won 2 trophies. The Indian team captured the Champions Trophy in February-March. Then in September he also won the Asia Cup. But apart from these title wins, since the arrival of Gambhir, many such decisions have been seen in Team India, from playing eleven to batting order, which have surprised everyone. The same trend is going on in the T20 series being played in Australia and its effect was visible in the second match, where Team India had to face a crushing defeat.
Australia defeated India by 4 wickets in the second match of the T20 series in Melbourne on Friday 31 October. Team India’s batting was such a flop in this match that the entire team collapsed for just 125 runs. Even among these 125, only two batsmen could cross the double figure. Australia achieved this score in just 14 overs. This clearly shows how one-sided this match was. But the reason for this was not only the failure of batting, but the decisions from team selection to batting order were also shocking.
The biggest question remains regarding the ouster of Arshdeep Singh. If star spinner Kuldeep Yadav was not given a chance in the first two matches during the ODI series, then Arshdeep Singh was not selected in the first two matches of the T20 series. Team India decided to field 3 spinners in place of Arshdeep, the only Indian bowler to take more than 100 wickets in T20 International. There was only Jasprit Bumrah as an experienced fast bowler in the team, while the other pacer Harshit Rana is still struggling to find his rhythm. In such a situation, keeping Arshdeep out like this is constantly coming under question.
Talking about the batting order, there has rarely been more confusion than this. Sanju Samson, who was fielded in the middle order during the Asia Cup, was suddenly sent to bat at number three in this match. Captain Suryakumar Yadav, who scored runs at number three in the last T20 match, himself came at number four in this match. On the other hand, Tilak Verma, who had scored runs at number three in the Asia Cup and in many T20 matches before that, was sent to number five in this match and he could not even open his account.
If this was not enough, then after the fall of 5 wickets for just 49 runs, Harshit Rana was sent to bat in place of a batsman like Shivam Dubey. Rana definitely made a good partnership with Abhishek Sharma by scoring 35 runs but for this he played 33 balls. He could neither score runs fast nor rotate the strike. The result was that while Abhishek, who came in the opening and played till the 19th over, could play only 37 balls, Harshit, who came in the 8th over and was out in the 16th over, played 33 balls himself during this period. Dubey came at number eight and was out after scoring only 4 runs.
Now why Gautam Gambhir is doing such experiments is beyond understanding at the moment. It can be assumed that he wants to give all the players maximum opportunities to play and especially bat, so that they can be prepared for the T20 World Cup. But this tournament is barely 4-5 months away and in such a situation, if preparations are not made with settled playing 11 and batting order, then it can prove costly.